Infrared cameras are growing in popularity for vehicular applications, such as for example for implementation in passenger automobiles to enhance visibility under various conditions for the driver. However, there generally are a number of drawbacks for conventional implementation approaches for an infrared camera within a vehicle.
For example, an infrared camera is typically mounted within a vehicle (e.g., near the front grill or front bumper) to provide a direct forward-looking field of view, with the images from the infrared camera provided to a display screen within the vehicle's passenger compartment. However, to prevent the infrared camera from being struck by a rock or other types of debris, a typical approach provides a thick germanium window to act as a shield to protect the infrared camera and through which the infrared camera captures its images.
The thick germanium window, though, is still susceptible to being broken, scratched, or chipped (e.g., due to a direct hit from a large rock) and is expensive to replace. The germanium window may include a diamond-like coating to further strengthen and provide abrasion resistance (e.g. due to being struck by sand or other small debris), but this further adds to the cost and reduces infrared transmission through the germanium window to the infrared camera.
The conventional direct forward-looking field of view mounting of an infrared camera may also increase the infrared camera's susceptibility to damage from a front-end collision (e.g., due to its exposure directly behind the window). Furthermore, the infrared camera may be subject to extreme thermal dynamics (e.g., heating during idle and rapid cooling during forward motion) and the mounting may require complex alignment mechanisms to provide the proper field of view orientation. As a result, there is a need for improved techniques for infrared camera vehicular implementations.